Overview
- The federal government opened the application period on Friday, July 10, 2026, and independent publishers can apply until July 24, 2026 for awards to be handed out at the Frankfurt Book Fair on October 9.
- The prize pool totals €2 million and includes up to three top awards with €50,000 premiums, up to 79 prizes of €18,000, and two special prizes of €24,000 for sustainability and the new Innovationspreis.
- The selection process now places final decision authority with the Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) who will decide based on a named jury’s recommendations, with the jury chaired by Jörg Thadeusz.
- To increase transparency the BKM and jury can consult an expert advisory panel drawn from the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels and the Kurt-Wolff-Stiftung to resolve disputes before any external security review.
- The changes respond to criticism after Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer removed three bookstores from a related prize in spring over undisclosed 'verfassungsschutzrelevante Erkenntnisse' and keep Verfassungsschutz checks possible only in absolute exceptional cases.